Cartographers that practice in the field of underwater mapping have taken advantage of Global Positioning System (GPS) and Sound Navigation and Ranging (SONAR) technologies, as well as those technologies' integration with cloud-based computing environments. Maps and charts depicting bodies of water and their surrounding land masses have become increasingly accurate because of the widespread use and technological advances in those fields. Modern day GPS and SONAR technology provides cartographers with the capability to determine the depth or altitude of a body of water in almost real time to an accuracy of up to or less than a foot. This data is useful to maritime navigators, recreational boaters, and anglers, amongst others.
The depth and altitude data that can be collected and processed by GPS and SONAR computing devices is particularly useful in creating underwater contour maps, which may be utilized by the aforementioned maritime navigators, recreational boaters, and anglers. Maritime navigators and recreational boaters frequently find it useful to consult such maps when determining whether certain sections of a body of water are safe for their vessel to traverse. Anglers may utilize these maps for the same reasons, but are also often times interested in knowing the current depth of a specific location on a body of water, or a future depth for a specific location on a body of water, because fish or other game they are targeting may be known or expected to gather at certain depths and/or at specific underwater structures and locations within that body of water at specific times.